My housekeeper

Josh is home (finally) from a week long work trip to Maryland. He is trying to help a Momma out by doing some house chores for me (whata guy). But he is totally cracking me up with his lack of cleaning sense.

He is trying to mop the kitchen floor.

First, he asked if we had a mop, mmmm, yep.

Then he asked what he should clean the floor with. I told him pinesol, but that I am all out.

He then asked if he could mop the floor with comet, mmmmm, nope.

I told him that he could use a little bit of bleach and water if he wanted.

Then he asked where the bucket was, above the washer. He went and got the bucket and found some Murphy's Oil Soap. He asked if he could use the Murphy's on our tile floor, mmmmm, don't think so.

Then he asked which one was the bleach, mmmmm, white bottle that says BLEACH!

Then he asked if the bleach would fade the trim mouldings, mmmmm, nope.

All of that said....

You just got to love a man with a mop in his hand! Thanks Honey!

Funny thing happened today

while we were shopping at Target. First, let me start by saying that I probably only shop at Target about once a month. We don't go there often. So today when we were checking out the cashier (who I did not remember) started talking to Will. He was being fussy while sitting in the cart and she said "well, where is your smile little one? You are always smiling when I see you!" And she continued to talk with him until we were getting ready to walk away. Then she said "Bye-Bye!". Then I remember her!! She was the cashier that I started crying in front of when Will started waving at her!

So either I made a lasting impression on her with my blubbering or Will is just so darn cute that no one can forget his precious face!

One year ago today...

William had his g-tube placed. Today is the one year anniversary of Will's last surgery. We have been hospital stay free for a year today!! I can't believe that it has been a year. During the first year of William's life we were what you would call a "frequent flier" at Cardinal Glennon. We knew the nurses on each floor and we had our favorites. But we haven't seen our friends is a YEAR!!!!

So much has been different during this year than William's first year of life. During the first year, I constently lived in fear. Fear of the next illness, the next doctor appointment, the next surgery, the next therapy session, the next... It seemed like every doctor appointment lead to a new problem that needed to be corrected. Now doctor appointments are easier, less stressful because they are all just follow up appointments. All of the major stuff is over, been dealt with before.

Since William has been born he has had 7 hospital stays and those 7 occured between August 2006 and June 2007. I am so grateful that we have had an easy year. Will has been healthy and making strides in his development. If someone would have told me that we would have a hospital free year back in early 2007 I would have laughed in their face. I just never thought that it would get easier, that Will would be healthier or that we would not have any surgeries.

We made it through the winter with no hospital stays for illnesses either! Woot Woot! My boy is getting bigger!

Don't get me wrong, there are still struggles but we have settled into this journey that we are on and life is good.

Pix from ballet class on Monday

I was able to get a few pictures during Caroline's ballet class on Monday. It was really hard to get a picture of her face because they face the mirror but I managed one (you can see her face in the mirror on the first picture). Sorry no pictures of the other she-devils, I know, I know, you are disappointed. Can you tell that I am still bitter?

He Did It!!!

Will weighs 20 POUNDS!!!!!! And we got to turn his car seat around! He could have cared less but it was a huge thrill for Josh and I. He did enjoy getting to watch the DVD even though Caroline has been watching Cinderella 3 for months!! He also like looking at his wonderful Momma during the ride! Here is the little guy getting ready for his first ride.

Good Grief!

I can not believe some people. Today Caroline had dance class, which she completely loves. I signed Caroline up for ballet classes because I wanted her to not only learn the art of ballet but to also learn to follow directions, listen to elders, be polite, etc. Is this too much to ask? I would think not, but it seems that other parents do not have the same goals as I.

There are eight little girls in her class. Today's class was completely out of control. It was ridiculous. I can not believe that parents would allow their children to behave in the manor in public or a ballet class nonetheless. Ballet is intended to be a graceful, beautiful, gentle art but there were children acting like rabid monsters. A few of them stopped short of their head spinning around but it would not have surprised me.

There were girls yelling, getting into each others faces, giggling, talking, fighting and not listening, "she is touching me", "she kicked me", "Ms. Tomi, tell her to stop looking at me" and on and on. The thing is, their parents were right there! Why did they not get their child under control? Why did they allow their child to completely disrespect Ms. Tomi (Caroline's Ballet teacher)?

Every time we go to the studio for class, I tell Caroline "you must listen to Ms. Tomi, you must act like a ballerina and you must use your ballerina voice". And if Caroline starts to act up during class, she gets the "you remember what I told you" look and she straightens up. It is that easy folks!! But then she looks at me with the "but why can they act like complete brats and I can't?" look. Hello!! Stupid parents, you are making my job real tough here!!!

Follow up

On Wednesday Will had an appointment at Cardinal Glennon with his neurosurgeon, Dr. Flannery. She is the surgeon that performed his tethered cord release surgery in November 2006. This was just a follow up appointment to make sure that his legs are working (mmmm, yep!). Sometimes nerves can be damaged during the surgery so they must follow up annually to make sure that everything is working right. She asked what all he was doing and I told her. She seemed very pleased with his progress and said see you in a year!

But then she told us that we would be followed by a different neurosurgeon because she is moving to Chicago. Boo! We really like Dr. Flannery but we are happy that she was given the opportunity to move closer to her family.

After she told me that she would be leaving, I got to thinking. Isn't it crazy how we as parents form a bond with these doctors and nurses? I mean really, Dr. Flannery has only spent short amounts of time with us a handful of times but I was so sad that Will would have to see someone else next year.

I think that my bond with Dr. Flannery is so strong for several reasons. One, she doesn't beat around the bush. She is to the point, no candy coating it. I respect that about her. Two, I trusted her with my four month old baby's life, that says A LOT. She did spinal cord surgery on my baby for goodness sakes. Josh and I had to hand over our poor, defenseless baby to an almost stranger and say "please don't let him die". And she took him and protected him in the surgery room and then gave him back to us, all safe and sound (plus a brand new bandage).

And when the kids pediatrician, Dr. Rahman moved away, I cried. Alot. I just could not image a medical crisis without him saying in his VERY thick accent, "Ms. Pillers, Willy is a strong boy" and helping me through my fears that he did so often and sweetly. During Will's first year, I saw Dr. Rahman and his staff on a regular basis, almost weekly. So they are like family.

We trust all of these doctors with our most precious possessions, our children and with that trust comes an instant bond. But I guess as Will gets older, doctors will come and go. It is something that I will have to get used to I suppose.